Lt. Gov. Dan Forest reacted to news that the Division of Non-Public Education planned to randomly inspect home schools this month for the first time in more than 20 years by calling on home school parents to refuse entry to government officials.

David Mills, the recently-promoted director of the Division of Non-Public Education, told NC Policy Watch last week that for the first time in 22 years he planned to randomly choose five home schools to inspect. He also planned to give them advanced notice of his site visits, spend only 30 minutes with them and allow the home schoolers to propose alternative meeting times if his suggestions were inconvenient.

In a news release sent out late this afternoon, Forest said that the home school inspections would be intrusive and unnecessary, and that families had the right to refuse warrantless entry to government officials under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

During the past 22 years DNPE has conducted record reviews of home schools in church basements, Mills told NC Policy Watch. Upon hearing negative feedback from the homeschool community with regard to his upcoming random home school inspections, Mills sent a letter sometime today to North Carolinians for Home Education (NCHE) indicating that he would cease any further inspections after the five he has already coordinated take place and return to the record review system of making sure home schools comply with state law.

It’s not clear whether or not Mills’ communication to NCHE was a direct result of Forest’s call for the home school inspections to stop. Ultimately DNPE and Forest issued a joint statement this evening indicating that no home school inspections would take place at all.

5 Comments

Gene Hoglan

October 15, 2013 at 2:09 am

Hmm yes, the guy who puts out pamphlets informing good Christians that the Sears catalog is a tool of the devil has a good grasp on the need for home school inspections or the lack thereof. Let the nutjobs abuse their children in peace, the nutjob-in-chief says.

Alan

October 15, 2013 at 6:18 am

Is it just me, or does NC now remind you of M. Night Shylaman’s ‘The Village’?

Dan Forest is yet another extremist on the right. Whatever happened to moderate Republicans, where did they go?

Danielle

October 15, 2013 at 9:02 am

Having been a homeschool my whole life and graduating just last summer, I have to say that I find the random visits ridiculous. Many choose to homeschool to stay out of this type of thing.

Once again, I feel our country has much bigger issues to focus on. How about children who are starving for starters? Maybe those being abused? This act is nothing more than a nosy person wanting everyone to abide by his way of thinking.

ML

October 15, 2013 at 1:32 pm

Danielle, they’ve already decided not to focus on starving or abused children. They focus solely on the rich which is why this is an issue.

Emma

October 16, 2013 at 8:09 am

Still finding no salary info for Lt. Dan’s director of communications, director of constituent services and the assistant to his chief of staff.

I agree with Alan, this guy is as extreme as they come and now that he’s fundraising with Rick Santorum the alarm bells should be going off for all tarheels.